George Francis Hagerup (22 January 1853 – 8 February 1921) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

law professor, diplomat, politician for the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

and

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countri ...

advocate. He was the 7th

prime minister of Norway The prime minister of Norway ( no, statsminister, which directly translates to "minister of state") is the head of government and chief executive of Norway. The prime minister and Cabinet (consisting of all the most senior government department ...

from 1895 to 1898 and from 1903 to 1905, and leader of the Conservative Party from 1899 to 1902. As a legal scholar, he is known for his contributions to the development of

public international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

, and was chairman of the

Institut de Droit International The Institute of International Law (French: Institut de Droit International) is an organization devoted to the study and development of international law, whose membership comprises the world's leading public international lawyers. The organizati ...

. He was his party's most active supporter of

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

, and was a co-founder, board member and honorary member of the

Norwegian Association for Women's Rights The Norwegian Association for Women's Rights ( no, italic=no, Norsk Kvinnesaksforening; NKF) is Norway's oldest and preeminent women's and girls' rights organization and works "to promote gender equality and all women's and girls' human rights thr ...

Biography

Francis Hagerup grew up at

Horten is a town and municipality in Vestfold in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway—located along the Oslofjord. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Horten. The municipality also includes the town of Åsgårdstrand a ...

Vestfold Vestfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in Eastern Norway. In 2020 the county became part of the much larger county of Vestfold og Telemark. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it bordered ...

, Norway. He was a son of admiral and cabinet minister Henrik Steffens Hagerup (1806–1859) and Nicoline Christine Jenssen (1808–1862). He graduated with the cand.jur. degree at the

Royal Frederick University The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

in 1876, received a grant to study abroad, and became a research fellow at the Royal Frederick University in 1879. He obtained the dr.juris degree in 1885, and was professor of law at the Royal Frederick University from 1887 to 1906. He was minister of justice in the

Second cabinet Stang The Stang's Second Cabinet governed Norway between 2 May 1893 and 14 October 1895. It had the following composition: Cabinet members State Secretary Not to be confused with the modern title State Secretary (Norway), State Secretary. The old titl ...

from 2 May 1893 to 14 October 1895. In August 1895 he was Finance minister. He was a member of the

Storting The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years ...

from 1901 to 1906. He served as Prime Minister of Norway for two terms. First from October 14, 1895; secondly from October 22, 1903. In social policy, Hagerup's time as Prime Minister saw the passage of a child care law in 1896 that increased the power of local authorities and courts over neglected and abused children. Following his two bouts as Prime Minister, he served as

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or s ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan a ...

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

, and

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. From 1916 he was ambassador in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...

. Hagerup was passionately involved in the development of

. From 1897 he was member of the

, of which he became the chairman in 1912. In 1907 he headed the Norwegian delegation at the second peace conference in

. He was also delegate at international conferences regarding

admiralty law Admiralty law or maritime law is a body of law that governs nautical issues and private maritime disputes. Admiralty law consists of both domestic law on maritime activities, and private international law governing the relationships between priv ...

. In 1920 he led the Norwegian delegation when the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference th ...

convened for the first time in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...

. The same year he was elected to the Law committee under the League council. In 1888, he founded '' Tidsskrift for Retsvidenskab'' (Journal of Jurisprudence), and served as its editor until his death. Hagerup was also member of the

Norwegian Nobel Committee The Norwegian Nobel Committee ( no, Den norske Nobelkomité) selects the recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize each year on behalf of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel's estate, based on instructions of Nobel's will. Five members are appointed by ...

from 1 January 1907 until his death in 1921. Hagerup was the most prominent Conservative Party politician to support

and was active in the women's rights movement. In 1884 he was a co-founder of the

and he was also a member of the first board of the association. In 1914 he became an honorary member of the association.''Nylænde'' 1914 p. 233

Personal life

He was married in 1880 to Frederikke Dorothea Bødtker (1853-1919). He died in Kristiania (now Oslo) and was buried at

Vår Frelsers gravlund The Cemetery of Our Saviour ( no, Vår Frelsers gravlund) is a cemetery in Oslo, Norway, located north of Hammersborg in Gamle Aker district. It is located adjacent to the older Old Aker Cemetery and was created in 1808 as a result of the great ...

References

Other sources

George Francis Hagerup biography
at government.no (taken from ''Norsk Biografisk Leksikon'' - Norwegian Biographical Encyclopedia) * Thane, Pat (1996) ''Foundations of the Welfare State'' (Longman Social Policy 2nd edition) {{DEFAULTSORT:Hagerup, Francis 1853 births 1921 deaths People from Horten University of Oslo alumni Norwegian academics Norwegian jurists 19th-century Norwegian politicians Academics of the Faculty of Law, University of Oslo Ambassadors of Norway to Denmark Ambassadors of Norway to the Netherlands Ambassadors of Norway to Belgium Ambassadors of Norway to Sweden Government ministers of Norway Presidents of the Storting Members of the Storting Delegates to the Hague Peace Conferences Ministers of Finance of Norway Leaders of the Conservative Party (Norway) Prime Ministers of Norway Burials at the Cemetery of Our Saviour Norwegian Association for Women's Rights people Ministers of Justice of Norway